Relevance of Guidance and Counselling in Overcoming Psycho-Educational Needs of Students

8/12/2019 Relevance of Guidance and Counselling in Overcoming Psycho-Educational Needs of Students

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CHAPTER 8RELEVANCE OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING IN

OVERCOMING PSYCHO EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF STUDENTS

GESINDE A.M. KOMOLAFE .M.D.AbstractProvision of Guidance n Counselling Services is one of the educationalpolicies the Federal Government to cater for the apparent ignorance ofmany young people about career prospects n personality maladjustmentamong school children. This paper therefore discusses the relevance andimportrmce ofGuidance n Counselling in the implementation ofeducationalpolicies Vis a vis problem areas that Guidance Counsellor could tacklefor tpurpos e ofeducational development.IntroductionTeachers in their professional responsibiljties of imparting desirable knowledgeinto students are faced with many hindrances. Some of these are not directlyfrom them. For instance despite the fact that they employed the most appropriatemethodology in teaching evidences abound wruch reveal mass failure in bothinternal and external examinations. A case in point was 985 when over seventyper cent of candidates who sat for West African School Certificate Examinationfailed woefully. Day-in day-out percentage of students failing greatl} exceedthose who are passing.A critical analysis of the above tends to reveal that some factors other thanor apart from teacher s methodology should be held responsible. Students thatcan still be classified as performing well have their own problems such as inabilityto determine the implications of their results in terms of career choice or choiceof institution. It has also been discovered that some students are not performingacademically well because ofpsy.chological disturbances and frustrations whichoriginated from their relationship with significant others in their life. This ineffect creates personality maladjustment that can inhibit excellent academicperformance.

When the Federal Government envisaged and realised the overall evil effectsof all these hindrances to educational development vis-a-vis economic growth ofthenation it stated for public consumption in the Third National v l o p m ~ tPlan that:

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Th abs nc of career counselltng our cduGltionaland training syst IJlS in the past must be heldresponsible for the frustrations observed among manyof the nation s young men and women.

n order to rectify these anomalies in the Nigerian educational system the FederalGovernment deemed it fit in 98 policy statement that:

In viewof the apparent ignorance ofmany young peopleabout career prospects and in view of personalitymaladjustment among school children, career officersand counsellors will be appointed in post-primaryinstitutions Such qualified personnel is scarceGovernment will continue to make provisions for thetraining of interested teachers in Guidance andCounselling. Guidance and Counsellipg will also featurein teacher education programmes.

It would nor be incorrect to conclude that the Federal Government with thispolicy statement was heeding the earlier recommendations made in 1974 by theNigerian Careers Council to Nigeria s Joint Consultative Conunittee among whichare:i that a career master or mistr 5S be appointed in each secondary school

throughout the federation to undertake educational and vocational guidancein the school. ii) that the career master or mistress post be recognised by all Ministries of

Education secondary schools proprietors and secondary schoolsadministrators.

iii) that the Federal and State Governments should make a special grant forguidance services to the Univ rsities to enable them organise courses onguidance and counselling:

iv) that University Institutesof Education and Ministries of Education shouldco-operate to organise as many training courses as possible for career mastersand mistresses;

v) that Universities InstitutesofEducation ,,hich do not run courses n guidanceand counselling should now plan to do so.

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What is Guidance and Counselling?Guidance and Counselling is a professional process of assisting individual orgroup of individuals by a trained Guidance Counsellor to understand integratedself, life problems and discover alternative solutions to lingering problems. Thiswill pave way for self-actualization and adjustment to environmental conditions.The assumption is that an individual who understood himself in terms of interest,values, beliefs, potentials, weaknesses and what is happening around imwouldfunction effectively. Guidance and Counselling is relevant 10 all aspects ofhumanlife be it in schools, industries, niarriage and family affairs, politics etc.

Guidance Counsellors are specially trained to assist people and as such theyare professionals. heirpersonality traits in order of frequency includeunderstanding, sympathetic attitude, friendliness. sense ofhumour, stability, fact,fairness tolerance neatness calmness patience objectivity sincerity,broadmindedness., kindness, pleasantness, social intelligence and poise Hamrinand Paulsin 1950) while their methods of operation range from less directive tomore prescriptive fonn of assistance depending on the client s problems.Importance of Guidance and Counselling to Educlltional DevelopmentIn the developed cou ntries of the world the importance of Guidance andCounselling cannot be overemphasised. nfact, in some of these developed worldhardly would one be able to distinguish the central objectives of education fromthat of Guidance Counselling. They work hand in hand to achieve educationalobjectives. Warnath 1965) asserted that school guidance is designed to assiststudents to develop and to accept an integrated picture of themselves, and oftheir roles the world around them, to test these concepts against reality; and toconvert the concepts into reality with satisfaction to themselves and to society.Similarly, the American Psychological Association sees counselling as beingdesigned to help individuals towards overcoming obstacles to tbeir personalgrowth, wherever these may be encountered and towards achieving optimumdevelopment of their personal resources.

In the Nigerian context, scholars of varied backgrounds have identified theimportance ofGuidance and Counselling towards the successful implementatwDof the 6-3-3-4 system of education. Some of these scholars submitted that in theabsence of Guidance and Counselling the central objectiv.es of education cannotbe realised. Abiri 197J) for instance, argued that if our society is not to beplagued by a brood or disgruntled, frustrated and unrealistic individuals,secondary school students should be eXP9sed to available opportunities and socialexpectations in the country through career guidance and counselling. in the samevein, Awokoya 1980) realising the importance of Guidance d Counselling to

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education asserted that without it in schools the whole programme o educationwill be meaningless.

Oladele (1987) his contribution itemised the central objectives o Guidanceand Counselling towards the successful implementation o educational objectivesin various institutions. He identified the assistance thatGuidance and Counsell ingwill render to students populace, teachers, parents, counsellors and government.This paper, however,will concentrate on the advantages to derived by students.teachers, parents and government. l Students will be able to(i) progress toward a productive and rewarding career

through making appropriate and satisfying personal, social and vocationalhoices:

(ii) effect ~ o o t transition from primary to junior, and from junior to seniorsecondary or to vocational schools and from senior to higher institution;

(iii) remove barrier that might come in whilst learning;(iv) develop positive image o self, the rough s l understanding, self direction

and skills in problem-solving and decision making;v participate meaningfully in the opportunities provided by the school in

curricular and co-curricular activities.2. Teachers on their part will be able to(i) understand better the individual way o learning o each student for whom t

hey are responsible:(ii) understand and utilise the services o the guidance programme;(iii) develop a flexible curriculum to provide a meaningful education for each

student.3. Parents will(i) understand better their children educational progress:(ii) understand information about educational and occupational opportunities

and requirements available to them and their children;(iii) develop realistic perception o their children s development in relation to

their potentials.

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ReferencesAbiri, O. (1973) i A Sample NigeriaAdolescents c d ~ m i c and Occupation

Aspirations st African Journal ofEducal/on 7 (3)Awokoya, S.O. (l980) Perspectives Quantities and Qualities in Nigerian

Education : A Synthetic Report of the Bagal/da Semmar, NERC.Federal Republic Nigeria (1975). Third National Development Plan (1975-80) Lagos.Hamrin, S.A. and PauIsoo, B (1950) CounsellingAdolescents Chicago Science

Research Associates, Inc.

Nigerian Careers Council Recommendations on Integrating Education nVocational Guidance into the I;:ducational System 1974 .0ladele, J.O. (1987). Guidance n Counselling: A Functional Approach

Lagos: Koservices Ltd.Wamath, S (1965) The Counsellor n Society: A Cultural ADproach;

Boston: Hougton Mifflin Company.

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Relevance of Guidance and Counselling in Overcoming Psycho-Educational Needs of Students

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